Single-use Food-Grade Plastic or Aluminium Cup System with Integral Pressed Ground Coffee for Placing in the Cavity of an Espresso Coffee Maker

ABSTRACT

Given the figures referred to, it may be seen how the invention consists of a single-use food-grade plastic or aluminium cup or bowl system ( 1 ), with a porous filter in the lower part ( 2 ), pressed ground coffee in the inside ( 3 ), lid and upper porous filter.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a food-grade plastic or aluminium cup or bowl system, for either single or double filling of pressed ground coffee in its inside for placing in a cavity of an espresso coffee maker, ready for being dispensed and thus achieving a cup of coffee.

The object of the invention is to achieve a cup of espresso coffee in the easiest, cleanest and simplest way, since as the bowl is single-use, and it simply has to be placed inside the cavity since it contains the pressed ground coffee inside it, so we dispense with the manual dosing of the grinder and also the noise which this produces due to having to grind the coffee.

Another fact to highlight is that, due to using a bowl with the pressed ground coffee for single-use integral with it, this means that in the following dose of coffee that is dispensed there will not be any remains of the coffee dispensed earlier, as occurs in the traditional system with fixed metal bowls which are then refilled with coffee every time a cup is required.

It is also an object of the invention to solve the problem of the mixing of flavours, since the market offers espresso coffee with different flavours so that, with the traditional system of fixed bowl, the flavours can become mixed due to the waiter merely emptying the grounds of the coffee that has just been dispensed into a container and, with the remains of previous coffees being left, and the consequent possibility of mixing flavours, a pure and optimum cup is therefore not obtained as can be obtained with the bowl containing pressed ground coffee for single-use for the cavity of an espresso coffee maker.

The problem is also solved of normal espresso coffee with caffeine being mixed in the bowl with decaffeinated espresso coffee from the coffee maker, given that when a machine decaffeinated coffee is asked for, the operator prepares it manually in the same bowl as the one he used for making a coffee with caffeine. This possible mixing of coffee and decaffeinated is also solved by this invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Metallic bowls that fit into the cavity of an espresso coffee maker are familiar to everyone. These bowls are only cleaned at the end of each day and in some cases this cleaning is put off, with the consequent problem of mixing of flavours and therefore the deterioration and lack of hygiene in the quality of the espresso coffee dispensed by that coffee maker.

Although this system permits an espresso coffee to be made, it presents problems that are to be found in the following aspects:

When the operator or waiter withdraws the cavity from the coffee maker with the grounds or remains of the previous cup he empties it by striking the cavity against a metal bar provided in the container for collecting the grounds that is to be found in coffee bars. This presents the problem that the fixed bowl, being in contact with the heat of the coffee maker unit, causes the grounds to become hard and these remains are left stuck to the fixed metal cavity and will only be eliminated if the waiter washes the bowl after each use, a hygienic action that is not carried out. This is solved by the single-use food-grade plastic or aluminium bowl, with integral pressed ground coffee for placing in the cavity of an espresso coffee maker which will be renewed from one cup of coffee to the next, overcoming the said drawbacks of hygiene, mixing of flavours and of caffeine, achieving an optimum cup of coffee with the best quality and with the security that no remains of coffee previously infused are being dispensed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention consists of creating a food-grade plastic or aluminium bowl system with integral pressed ground coffee inside in such a way that the operator only has to place it in the cavity of an espresso coffee maker and, once the coffee has been dispensed, withdraw it and place another entirely new one, given that it is single-use only, with the aim of avoiding the mixture of flavours and remains of other coffees, as occurs with the traditional system.

The bowl will be made of food-grade plastic or aluminium for single-use and disposal and will consist in its lower base of a porous structure with a porous paper filter inside filled with pressed ground coffee with the quantity already predetermined for a single or double dose of coffee. The upper part will be provided with a porous plastic lid or a porous paper filter in such a way that the water under pressure from the espresso coffee maker will enter via this upper part of the bowl, percolate through the coffee inside and then exit through the porous filter of the lower part, with the liquid coffee finally falling directly into the cup.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to complement the description that is being made and with the aim of facilitating a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, in accordance with a preferred example of practical embodiment of same, this description is accompanied by three figures as an integral part thereof representing, in diagrammatic and perspective form, the plastic or aluminium bowl with pressed ground coffee integral within it, for a single use, in accordance with the object of this invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

With the stated figures in view, it may be seen how the invention consists of a single-use food-grade plastic or aluminium cup or bowl system (1), with a porous filter in the lower part (2), pressed ground coffee in the inside (3), lid and upper porous filter. 

1-3. (canceled)
 4. A single-use food-grade plastic or aluminium cup system integral with pressed ground coffee for placing in a cavity of an espresso coffee maker, the system comprising a bowl body adaptable to an inner receptacle of the cavity of the espresso coffee maker, and the bowl body having a base with a plurality of holes and a lid with a plurality of holes situated on a top of the bowl body, configured in such a way that between the base and the lid a porous wrapping is formed containing a dose of pressed coffee, wherein both the base and the lid are made of a porous material and are provided with holes for the passage of liquid and corresponding infusion for its dispensing, with the particular feature that the lid is coupled under pressure inside the bowl body, tucked in with respect to an upper edge of the bowl body and removable in order to, following the extraction of the dose of coffee, permit coupling of the bowl snugly inside the cavity of the espresso coffee maker. 